


An Explanation

by crescent_gaia



Category: Elementary (TV)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Post Season 5, spoilers and speculations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-17 04:03:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11267547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crescent_gaia/pseuds/crescent_gaia
Summary: After no answers at the hospital, Sherlock decides to give Joan some about what's going on with him.





	An Explanation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alchemicink](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alchemicink/gifts).



> Standard disclaimer about not owning anything. This is all pure speculation on what happens after the season 5 finale because that cliffhanger was annoying. 
> 
> Please enjoy!

Nothing. Of course they couldn’t tell him anything, a doctor had to look at it, and they would call when the time was right. He, on the other hand, had his own doctor who probably was due for an explanation on what was happening. He had kept things from her for far too long, even though he didn’t want to think about how he was disappointing her. It hurt, far more than he cared to admit, that he let her down when she needed him the most. She’d be there, far more than any other friend had been in a very long time, so he simply asked for a copy of the MRI. 

It didn’t take long for them to get the image to him on a thumb drive and he made a follow up appointment. They tried to get him to stay, strongly encouraged, so they suspected something but were too cowardly to voice it. Instead, he made his way home, noting that the long term memory was still strong. After paying the cab driver, he got out and looked up at the Brownstone. Part of him hesitated as he held onto the railing of the stairs.

“Sherlock, she would want to know,” his mother said. “Considering the state you left the place in, she might be trying to find you.”

He glanced at her, knowing she wasn’t real, but the rational part of his mind talking to him. He made the way up the stairs and stopped himself as he reached for his keys. Instead, he took out his lock picks and undid the lock in his fastest time yet. _There’s nothing wrong with my mind_ he thought as he closed the door behind him.

“No, I’m not sure. I walked in and found the mess but I can’t find Sherlock,” Joan said. When there was no reply, he could tell she was on the phone. “I called different meeting places but…” she turned around and shook her head as she saw him. “Never mind, he just walked in. Thanks Marcus.” 

“I thought it would be best to explain myself,” he said. “Mostly for that but also why… why I’ve missed things lately.”

“Alright,” she said.

He sighed. “I’ve been forgetting things. Here and there. I’ve tried to hold onto it and make my mind rework itself, but I’m not getting anywhere. I’m also talking to my dead mother, so there’s that as well. Apparently, she’s the part of my mind that takes over and I forget things I’ve done. After… after thinking that she was stuck somewhere that was on fire, I went and got a MRI.”

“Short term memory loss?”

“Considering I can still remember how to get here and pick the door to get in, yeah, seems that way. Or it’s just a matter of time before that goes too.” He sat down. “I’ve got the thumb drive of the scan, if you want to see it, if only to verify my story.”

She took a long look at him and sighed. “I’ll get some tea on first,” she said quietly.

“Yeah,” he said, watching her leave the room. He wasn’t sure how long it had been but she was gently touching his shoulder and putting a cup of tea into his hands. She sat down next to him on the small couch, taking a sip of her tea, and being quiet.

“You’re not saying anything.”

“I’m mostly annoyed with myself that the first thing I jumped to was drug use and not that something was wrong,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

“Shouldn’t be. I didn’t say that anything was wrong. If the positions were reversed, I would have thought the same thing. I’ll understand if you don’t want to stay though. I’m not sure what’s all involved or if it can be reversed or anything.”

“Why would I want to go?” she asked, without skipping a beat. “You’re my friend. I’m going to get annoyed with you now and then, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care. And don’t think I’m going to just forgive you for missing the funeral. It’s not an excuse. You’ve got a big enough mind to leave a post-it note or something for yourself. You simply didn’t care.”

“No, with that, it was half that I didn’t care and half that I forgot. I wanted to be there for you. You’ve been though a lot with me and I failed on something simple.”

“You don’t do simple, Sherlock,” she said. “You’re not simple.”

He nodded. “My offer still stands with the scan though.”

“Later,” she said. “Leave it out for me. Right now, this is more than enough for me.”

“Is it?” he asked. “It’s going to get worse.”

“You don’t know that.”

“They wouldn’t even give me a guess about what it might be but wanted me to stay in the hospital anyways,” he pointed out.

She tilted her head as she heard that. “Give me the thumb drive.”

He handed it over, watching her stand up and go over to the computer. He sighed as his phone buzzed and rolled his eyes as he saw it was a text from his father. He ignored it, for the moment, and got up to follow Joan. “Well?”

“Hold on,” she said, putting the scans up on one screen to look at them all together. “Anything other than the hallucinations?”

“Headache that comes and goes. Why?”

“Because if it’s just hallucinations, then there’s the possibility that it’s not a tumor. Infections can cause them as well as low B12,” she said. “They took blood, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” she said, pulling up the scan that showed the temporal side of the brain, zooming in on different areas before zooming back out. She went to the occipital lobe and sighed. “Damn.”

“You found it?”

“Along with some lesions,” she said. “Probably from drug use, but they’re not growing. It’s small enough for them to take out, but it might aggravate and cause more lesions. I’ve got a friend I can call.”

He decided to hold his tongue about how the last friend went and simply nodded. “Thank you.”

“Thank you for not going with what you wanted to say,” she said. “I’ll give her a call. You hungry?”

“No,” he said.

She looked up at him. “When did you eat last?”

“Yesterday.”

“Well, I’ve got a lunch with Marcus. I’ll bring you back something?” she asked.

“How is…” he took a breath as he tried to reach for the name of Marcus’ girlfriend. “Chantal.”

“Healing but… it’s not good, relationship wise, for either of them right now. He needs someone to talk to.”

He gave her a look.

“It’s only talk, but thanks for thinking that,” she said.

“Sorry.”

“No you’re not,” she said as she got up. “Stand up straight for a moment.”

“You’re going to make me regret telling you,” he said but did what she asked.

She looked into his eyes, felt around his glands, and took his pulse. “Might be doing that more and more to make sure you’re okay.”

He nodded. “Thank you. I don’t think any other of our friends, save for the Captain and Marcus, would be as worried.”

“Do you want me to tell him?”

He shook his head no. “Let me.”

“Alright,” she said. “I’m going to put more water in the teapot and leave a note, just in case.”

He sighed. 

“Sherlock.”

“Fine.” He took a deep breath and went to sit back down on the couch. Time was becoming fluid again as he realized it was now dark and there was a blanket over him. He could hear Joan in the kitchen, so he got up and went to see. 

“Hey, you’re up. Your father called – no, I didn’t tell him – but he says that you need to call back or he’s going to come visit. Your other family called as well.”

“That’s not wise of him, but I doubt I can stop him,” he said. “I lost time.”

She stopped cooking and turned to look at him. “From when to when?”

“You left and then now.”

“Well, when I came back, you were asleep. I made you comfortable and you woke up twice before now. But you haven’t left here.”

“How do you know?” he asked.

She put down the spatula and took him out to the front hall, showing him a disc that blended into the ceiling if you weren’t looking hard at it. “I had installed before I left – Marcus had push back lunch anyhow – and it pings my cell phone whenever someone comes or goes.”

“Oh. Thank you Watson.”

She smiled and gently took his wrist, checking his pulse, before leading him into the kitchen. She had him sit down at the table and put a bowl of soup in front of him when it was done a bit later. He did slowly eat it, not sure if he liked the new normal, but was glad that he had his best friend to help him.


End file.
